ReikoX's Workshop 2017

[ReikoX]

Welcome to my workshop. This is where I grow and process my medicine. This year I decided to keep all of my grows in a single thread instead of a new thread for each grow. It will also give me a place to "hang out" and show some of the processing I do.

So how about a tour? First stop is my desk for a dab, maybe a hit from the vape? I've got my Magic Flight Launch Box, and Orbiter, my 710 life e-nail, or my Arizer Extreme Q vaporizer. Give me a sec... ahh that's better.

Where were we? Oh yeah the tour! Here you can see my retired Alienware grow box. It has about 50 watts of DIY COB lighting in it. The build and my 12/12 from seed uSOG can be found here. I hope to do some pollen chucking in here soon. I have some Jilly Bean seeds that I want to play with. I also have a bunch of auto flowering varieties that I wanted to make some seeds with.

Next up we have the filing cabinet. This was the third grow box I made. It is made from a metal filing cabinet with 86 watts of off-the-shelf LED. You can find the build and a few grows here. I usually run auto-flowers in this cab, but I was having problems getting some seeds to germinate. Right now I have a Bubba Kush S1 germinating instead.

Next up we have my metal storage cabinet. It's got two BlackStar Chrome 186W (110 actual) LEDs. This is the first grow box I built. This cabinet has quite a few threads. The build and first grow can be found here, my second and best grow in this cab can be found here, my next two grows in this cab can be found here, and finally the current grow can be found here.

After this current grow, I want to do some upgrades to this cabinet. Mainly I want to make a single no-till bed in here, move the circulation fan up to the canopy, and possibly upgrade my lights to a DIY COB.

Right now I have some Strawberry Blue at about five weeks. Down below I have my mothers and clones. I keep my mothers in homemade fabric pots so there is no need to root prune. Thanks to Mr. Sparkle for the tutorial here. They get a trim once a week, mostly for clones. I try to keep them under 4" tall.

I clone on top of my light. I have strip LEDs on the top a couple of inches above and a seedling mat below. I take small 2" cuts and put them in micro hempy buckets. The micro hempy buckets are plastic shot glasses with a hole in them about 1/4" from the bottom. I fill them with perlite and they go in a jiffy seed starter greenhouse. They get watered with RO water and superthrive for two to three weeks, then transplanted into cups to veg for a week or so before moving to the perpetual SOG or another home.

Well, since there is a five picture limit, lets stop by the desk. We resume the tour shortly...

 

[ReikoX]

Finally we have the dual 150 CMH cab. This is my most recent cab and you can find the build and first grow here. This cab doubles as a workbench for processing. You can see my dry sift (trimming) screens on the left and my new rosin press on the right.

In the left grow chamber here you can see the perpetual SOG. Each week I harvest three or four plants, and replace them with fresh transplanted clones. This week is the second week of perpetual harvesting. This side is on from 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM.

Here is how I water. I use a submersion method. I will fill the pitcher up with water, then drop the pot in until it sinks. I let it drain, give it a squeeze, and put it in the tray until the section is finished. I have them split into three feedings. Weeks 7-9 and fresh transplants get plain water. Weeks 3-6 get flowering formula, and weeks 0-3 get a grow formula.

In the right grow chamber, you can see my vertical screens. I've been having difficulty cloning this winter and plants are growing slow, so I only have four Holy Grail 69 in there. Last time I had six plants in there, lets see how four will compare. This side usually runs opposite from the left side from 10:00 PM to 10:00 AM.

They were just transplanted and set to 18/6 light schedule. They will be trained until they fill the screen then flipped to 12/12. She is a quick eight week cultivar that doesn't stretch much at all.

Well that's the tour for now. I hope you all enjoy this year's show. Feel free to post pictures, hang out, or make off topic comments and jokes. This thread is for you, I get to see my plants all the time.

 

[Cur]

"You must spread some reputation around before giving it to ReikoX again."

 

[ice-cream]

Thanks for inviting us in ReikoX
I'll pull up a chair and watch the bench cab, I loved your modeling on the verticle setup. Tidy indeed

 

[Chevy cHaze]

Subb'd ! Nice one. What a neat little ganja growing universe you have built up there ReikoX.

 

[Safe Gardener]

First time I've subscribed to a thread. This looks epic and I surely don't want to miss out!

Great stuff man, very impressive cabs.

 

[ReikoX]

"You must spread some reputation around before giving it to ReikoX again."

Thanks for inviting us in ReikoX
I'll pull up a chair and watch the bench cab, I loved your modeling on the verticle setup. Tidy indeed

Subb'd ! Nice one. What a neat little ganja growing universe you have built up there ReikoX.

First time I've subscribed to a thread. This looks epic and I surely don't want to miss out!

Great stuff man, very impressive cabs.

Welcome back, today we are getting some stuff packaged and ready for potency testing. Everything is made from these Delicious Candy flowers. This is my one of my favorite strains to grow. She produces well, is hardy, and the smoke is just like the name suggests.

Next up is some Delicious Candy Rosin. I just got my press. This rosin was from flowers presses for about 20-30 seconds at 210-220°F (95-100°C).

Finally I have some Green Dragon tinctures. For the left sample I took eight grams of flowers and pressed it out into rosin, then added it to two ounces of ethanol. This was filtered and bottled. For the right sample I took eight grams of flowers, broke them up, then froze them for 24 hours along with the bottle of ethanol. They were combined for about two hours in the freezer, then rinsed. The ethanol was filtered then reduced to two ounces. Neither sample should be decarbed now, but should be after four months in a cool dark place. That will be the follow up test.

All four samples were taken to the lab and results will be posted as soon as I get them back. How about we test out some of that rosin on the nail?

 

[kasvi]

Subscribed! Cant wait to see that pc up and running again. What strains you are going to use for pollen chucking?

 

[Cur]

Subscribed! Cant wait to see that pc up and running again. What strains you are going to use for pollen chucking?

I love his PC as well and hope he has another go at it!

I have been saying for years I would get mine together when I am not randomly tested anymore... and, well, that just happened. His build is an inspiration for mine, that's for sure!

 

[blynx]

Cool thread! Looking forward to seeing the next round in the new cab.

Wish I could test some of the strains I have. What do they charge you for the tests? Do you get terps and thc results?

 

[ReikoX]

It's getting crowded in here, let me grab some more buckets.

Subscribed! Cant wait to see that pc up and running again. What strains you are going to use for pollen chucking?

I'm either going to pop some Jilly Bean and make some F2s and probably chuck some of that pollen on everything I have. Or I'm going to pop some Lowryder autos-flowers and chuck that on a bunch of other auto-flowers I have.

I love his PC as well and hope he has another go at it!

I have been saying for years I would get mine together when I am not randomly tested anymore... and, well, that just happened. His build is an inspiration for mine, that's for sure!

I remember back in the day there were quite a few people who loved my Alienware PC as a gaming machine. Now the love continues as a grow box, it's a pretty dope looking case

I'm glad you now get to make your own grow box. It is a great hobby. If you need any advice, I'm happy to help you.

Cool thread! Looking forward to seeing the next round in the new cab.

Wish I could test some of the strains I have. What do they charge you for the tests? Do you get terps and thc results?

Welcome blynx! I'm looking forward to the next round with the screens for sure. The perpetual SOG needs work. I am still working out how tall to have each strain when it goes in. I also am working out a feed schedule. If I can't get that dialed in, I will likely make screens for that side too.

The testing is a bit pricey, but worth it to know the "real" numbers. I just got the standard potency and it cost an arm ($50 plus tax) for each test. To get the terpenes tested would cost me a leg. I just got the test results back and am reviewing them now. There was an issue with the labeling, I don't know for sure which tincture is from the rosin. I'm sure they can help me sort it out. I did a bit of math and am pretty sure which one is the rosin.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I've always wanted to try out some jilly bean, but mind you for making crosses with sub-cool says it's pretty unstable and will hermi at any chance it can get so, kinda have to consider if you want those genetics in your potential crosses.

Id say do both if just looking for some random seed, unless you have a direction with what you want to do breeding wise.

 

[ReikoX]

I've always wanted to try out some jilly bean, but mind you for making crosses with sub-cool says it's pretty unstable and will hermi at any chance it can get so, kinda have to consider if you want those genetics in your potential crosses.

Id say do both if just looking for some random seed, unless you have a direction with what you want to do breeding wise.

I got some from a dispensary this weekend, and if I can find the same phenotype I will be in hog heaven. The stuff smelled like tangerines! The rosin is like taking a bite out of it. The most orange flavor I have ever gotten out of a cultivar.

That's my main reason to pop the seeds. Since they are regular seeds, I might as well pollen chuck. I use that term because this is not breeding, just making some seeds to hunt through.

 

[ReikoX]

I got the test results back and am just now doing some analysis on it. I'm very impressed with the rosin results both in potency and the lack of decarb. There was some confusion on the tinctures as they were both labeled the same on the results, not like I labeled my samples. That's OK, with a little math it becomes obvious which one is which.

Part of this project is to look at the conversion rate from THCA to THC, as a metric I am using the following formula.
CONV = 100 *( THC / ( THC + THCA ) )
This gives us the percentage of THCA that has converted to THC.

First up are the Delicious Candy Flowers. These tested at 16% Max THC. It definitely falls in line with both my estimate (20%) and my bioassay of the flowers. These are very fresh flowers that were harvested just last month (12/10/2016), so it's no surprise that CONV = 2.6%.

The rosin results blew my mind. I was estimating around 60%, but it tested at 71%! Since there was heat and pressure applied briefly, I was expecting some amount of decarb. While more than the raw flowers, I was still happy with CONV = 6.5%

Next up is the flower tincture. This tested at 21 mg / ml which falls in line with 1/2 - 1 ml doses. Now, for some math to verify that this is the flower tincture. I used 8 grams of the 16% flowers reduced to two ounces (60 ml) of tincture.
( 8000 mg * 0.16 ) / 60 ml = 21.3333 mg / ml
Pretty damn close! I messed up a bit on this sample and used heat to reduce the ethanol to two ounces, so it's not surprising that CONV = 15.6%. A little bit higher than it should have been, but that shouldn't matter too much.

Finally, we have the rosin tincture. This test came in at about 14 mg / ml. It's about 33% less potent than the flower tincture. I believe this is a result of the second rinse, and a second press on the rosin may bring the numbers back in line. To make these two equal I would need 1.8 grams of rosin. The math works out here too. I used 1.15 grams of rosin dissolved in two ounces of ethanol.
( 1150 mg * 0.71 ) / 60 ml = 13.6083 mg / ml
Again, it's pretty damn close! Math saved the day again! Since no additional heat was added, the conversion falls in line at CONV = 8.5%.

Over all, everything turned out as well as can be expected. I still want to work on some decarb of the rosin. While it's not as efficient, using the rosin is quicker and uses considerably less alcohol.

 

[Buddah Watcha]

Right on Reiko, always enjoyed your threads! Will definitely tag along this one!

 

[doams]

those decarb values
how do they test it are they heating the flowers or are the results measured off dry bud that decarbed over time naturally without them testers using heat or are they heating the buds and those are the results we see?
cbda is like thca it changes to cbd over time or with heat/air etc. right?

 

[ice-cream]

I wont pretend to understand the reports, but you sound happy, so sounds like congratulates are in order

 

[ReikoX]

those decarb values
how do they test it are they heating the flowers or are the results measured off dry bud that decarbed over time naturally without them testers using heat or are they heating the buds and those are the results we see?
cbda is like thca it changes to cbd over time or with heat/air etc. right?

The decarb values are calculated based on the measured values. You see they use the formula THCA*0.88+THC in this report. When THCA converts to THC, the carboxyl group is released and the mass is reduced. The 0.88 represents the loss in mass. It's really only important if you are trying to get accurate dosing for edibles and such.

I wont pretend to understand the reports, but you sound happy, so sounds like congratulates are in order

The reports are pretty straight forward. They are simply measuring the cannabanoids to determine potency. 15-20% is pretty good, 30% is AAA+ top shelf.

 

[ReikoX]

I am an engineer at heart, not just by trade. I'm sure any of you who have seen my builds will notice that. As a result I am always thinking about something. I like to design and build stuff, and often over engineer the simplest of projects.

So I've been reading about custom built drying rooms. Basically it is a sealed room with an air conditioner and dehumidifier. They then set the temperature and humidity for the ideal conditions (usually 60°F and 60%RH). But what about us micro guys? I live in an arid climate and often struggle to keep humidity up and slow the drying process. Small plants also dry a lot faster. So I started thinking about a drying cabinet.

First thing I looked at what was available off the shelf. Mostly everything was a cabinet with an inadequate filter. I did see one box that used a humidity controller and exhaust fans, but no odor control. Another was lined with Spanish cedar, but was almost $1000.

So I started to look at small dehumidifiers. They exist and are pretty reasonably priced. As they are designed though, they have no humidity control and heat up the air quite a bit. But the technology that drives them got my interest.

These small dehumidifiers use a Peltier, also known as a thermoelectric, plate. If you don't know, they basically move heat from one side (cold side) to the other side (hot side) when electricity is applied. They can even switch hot and cold sides by reversing polarity. They are also used in electric camping coolers, now we are getting somewhere!

While doing research I found a humidor that used one to control temperature. I found several fermentation chambers using these. I even saw a grow box using them for cooling. They were using almost 1000W to cool around 300W of lighting. Terribly inefficient, but under the right conditions may be useful. For example, they may work wonderfully to cool COB lighting similar to how they are used to cool PC chips.

So my idea is starting to form, but I'm debating if this project is worth the time and money. I can dry my weed in a shoe box with a bit of time and effort.

Basically I would need to build a well insulated cab with both temperature and humidity control. I would need to engineer it to use the peltier plates to dehumidifier and cool. Most likely an Arduino board and code to control it, which is something I've wanted to play with. Pricing out parts it would cost a bit more than I would like.

Basically I want a cab big enough to hang about 200 grams dry weight. It would have to be completely sealed for odor prevention, and of course the temperature and humidity control. The goal would be to wet trim the bud, hang it in the cab, set the temp and humidity and leave it. If it maintains well I may even cure in there.

What do you guys think? Should i even bother? It's definitely over engineered, but there is nothing like it on the market. I can see something like this being popular for small personal grows.

 

[ice-cream]

I'd certainly be interested to watch any build you did from the tech side of things. I dont think I'd have a need in my climate though ...